Muses
__TOC__ 'Muses' Unlike the other spirits that dwell in the Dreaming, the Muses are very much alive. They are forests, swamps, mountains, plains, oceans, and rivers. They are the manifestation of all the life that dwells in and defines entire ecosystems. For that, these spirits are known to be the voices of nature. While technically even the smallest creek has a Muse, only the largest areas can bring forth one strong enough to take physical form and interact with the mortal world directly. This is due, in part, to the fact that a single, powerful muse is often the sum total of all the countless others that dwell within their borders. As a result when people refer to the Muses, they are almost always speaking about the ones that have enough power to be either a danger or a boon - the ones that represent very large areas. Muses do not die if you kill them in their physical form. They will simply reform again in some other part of their territory. The only way to kill them is to lay waste to the life they protect. 'Muses and Magick' Being creatures of both the corporeal and the noncorporeal nature, Muses belong to the Dreaming and to the Physical World at the same time. While in the Dreaming they are free to roam as they wish, in the physical world they are bound to the land that composes them, that gives them life, the one they protect. Nevertheless, their influence may extend beyond the territory they guard even if they cannot walk out of it. While a forest cannot change places, a bird can fly far from its home to see for a Muse. For that reason, it is said that Muses can see far, hear much, and sometimes even act across great distances. Furthermore, some Muses have allegiances with races and contracts with specific people. As we all know, Magick consumes the soul of those who use it. It kills them and slowly drives them to madness. However, this does not happen to mages that draw their power from a Muse. A Muse is able to generate her own Aether from the life she represents and from those who pay tribute to her. Races such as the Wood Elves and the Moon Elves can cast spells freely without harm if they are within a Muse’s territory. The further away they get from their Muse the further the Aether has to travel through the Webs, which in turn limits the amount of power and magick the Muse is able to provide. 'The Fjord War' It was the belief of humanity that the world was made for sentient beings, for them. Seize the day, seize the land, seize the life. In their society no one questioned that remark, and outside of it no one contested it. Many even joined them in the race for industrialization, in that dream of progress. But nothing is free, and great benefits pay steep prices. Technology developed from the new economies based on continuous growth and maximization of profits. This is how humans believed they incremented their quality of life, with advances in medicine, with more food production, with new gadgets to make their lives easier and with powerful weapons that ensured them their safety. Gluttony and ambition became the norm, a competition of who can have more. Everything went well, and their population grew, building giant metropolises and countless smaller villages and towns. They failed to realize however that the resources that made all that growth possible were alive… It was in the year 115 of Nyxheim when the wealthy city of Zenihail began to expand. Population was growing exponentially and they wanted to tap new resources. Besides the city was a massive swap and they began to destroy it. After all, it would provide new resources, eliminate the pests that were plaguing them, and open up new land to build on. It was good business. By the year 122, Blackwood Swap had no probabilities of survival... “Take me. Cover me with your waters; sink me in your depth. For I rather share my last breath with you, than with them…” the Muse of the Swamp implored to Lysvana, the great Muse of the Vespen Lake. She was his lover. “They’ll kill us all. They’ll leave the world barren. They’ll dry the land dead and nothing will stop them. They’ll come with fire. They’ll come with iron. They’ll come by thousands. Breaking, biting, bombing, blowing, burning! Destroyers and Despoilers! Curse them!” So were her words of rage, born from the pain of being voiceless, powerless, and soon loveless. Lysvana, the great lake, cleaved the earth. With all the strength she could muster, she crawled her way towards the sea. Okahn, Muse of the Swamp, saw her waters retiring and was disheartened. She had abandoned him… She ran away out of fear and left him alive and alone to face his death with a broken heart. Loveless, hopeless, lifeless… But then the ground was shaken, and over the rumbling, an approaching distant roar thundered. It was Lysvana fast approaching. He open his arms to receive her, guilty to each root to have ever doubted her, and as they kissed they were consumed like powder and fire. Their hate and love clashed against Zenihail, the tall buildings were uprooted from their base, their escape vessels crashed against the rubble, and the people were squashed and drowned. Nothing was left but devastation. The ecosystems were utterly destroyed and the city crumbled to desolation. For love she did the ultimate sacrifice, and in thier triumph they died. The news spread to all Muses of the world… and her words echoed. “Destroyers and Despoilers, curse them!” So began the backlash wave of human conquest. The Muses decided that they will no longer vanish quietly in the night, that they will no longer tolerate the genocides committed against their children, that they will never be annihilated by that growing cancer who had a mind of metal, by that virus of frenzied consumption. Industrialization experienced a crisis of unfathomable proportions. Disease spread, nature grew fierce, countless populations were destroyed, but they resisted, and they survived. Even now the fight is not over. Cities are walled to keep the dangerous wild outside. Although they have managed to claim some resources and tame some land, there is a growing energy crisis in the metropolises as population keeps increasing. Progress has now to find new solutions, and it has to wrestle whatever resources it needs away from the Muses’ hands. The sea never retreated from Zenihail, or the swap, or the lake, and no human ever tried to settle there again. That land is now known as the Fjords, and on its honour, the war between nature and progress is called the Fjord War. New life has there sprouted, but it is dark and resentful. I would not go there if I were you. 'List of major Muses' Muse of The Waters Muse of Evergreen Muse of Harrowood Muse of Promethian Plains Muse of Nightmare Marsh Muse of Nifeloren Muse of Nifredil Muse of Icarus Muse of Eirien Category:World Book